September 10, 2004

Genesis 27 (& 25)

JACOB AND ESAU: “TWO NATIONS ARE IN YOUR WOMB.”

Some of the most exciting events at any track and field meet are the relay races. The recent Olympics in Greece illustrated this once again. There are four runners on each team. Each runner runs his leg of the race and then passes the baton on to the next runner. (I know we have a language difficulty here in deciding how to pronounce this word; being an American, I will pronounce it the American way).

What adds drama to the event is the difficulty of passing the baton from one runner to the next without losing any speed. Many great relay teams have lost races because they dropped the baton, or lost ground by not passing it smoothly.

As we study the stories of the patriarchs from the Book of Genesis, I sometimes like to think of it as a relay race, with each of the patriarchs as runners in the race, and the promises or blessings of God given originally to Abraham as the baton. In this relay race, Abraham was the lead off runner. He starts out with the promises God gave him. There is a stumble or two, some lost time early in the race. But Abraham finishes strongly. There is a good handoff, and Abraham’s son Isaac receives the baton. He too, after an early stumble, runs a smooth, strong race.

But as Isaac nears the end of his leg of the race, we find an unprecedented and very awkward situation. As he approaches the hand-off zone, there is not one runner waiting for the baton. There are two, but of course, there is only one baton. You can imagine the drama that would occur were this to happen in an actual relay race, as the two runners push and shove each other to be in position to receive the baton in order to run the next segment of the race. And this is exactly the sort of confusion we find as we read the story in the Book of Genesis.

The writer of Genesis sets the stage with a few verses in Genesis 25:21-22

Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.

Isn’t it interesting? The competition, the jostling between these twin brothers began while they were still in the womb. The word “jostle” here is actually quite strong. It means to crush. These two were actually wrestling in the womb, a predictor of things to come. It is so intense that Rebekah is alarmed and goes to ask the LORD what is going on.

He answers her in v. 23: Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.

So the theme of strife and competition begins in the womb. It continues in the actual birth event.

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau (which means “hairy”). After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.

As Esau comes out of the womb, Jacob’s hand is seen emerging from the womb as well, clutching Esau’s heel. So remarkable is this that they actually name him for this fact: Jacob means literally “heel grabber” or “one who grasps the heel.” The symbolic significance of this title is a little more difficult to discern. Some interpret it in the sense of “deceiver”. The old English translation is “supplanter” which means to overthrow by tripping up, or to supersede by force or treachery.

To underline this theme of competition and strife, we find that it is played out in the attitudes of the parents.

v. 27-28: The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was quiet man, staying among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

The stage is now set for the next act in the drama. One day, Esau comes in from an apparently unsuccessful hunt. He is absolutely famished. He finds Jacob, quietly boiling a pot of lentil stew.

“Quick, give me some of that red stuff. I am absolutely starving,” he says.

“First sell me your birthright,” Jacob responds.

I think the casual way that Jacob introduces this to the conversation probably indicates a couple things. First, this is something that Esau and Jacob have discussed, possibly argued about before. Secondly, that Jacob has been thinking and strategizing some way to catch Esau at a weak moment. He has gauged his brother well.

“What good is a birthright to me if I’m dead?” Esau responds. And so he swears an oath to sell his birthright to his brother. This must surely be one of the poorest bargains ever struck from Esau’s perspective. As the writer of Hebrews puts it, he sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son for a single meal.

He seems to have no awareness of the importance of the transaction. The text says simply in v. 34, “He ate and drank and then got up and left.”

But the narrator of the story concludes it solemnly. So Esau despised his birthright. He treated it with contempt, as something of little significance or importance.

The story of Esau and Jacob is picked up in chapter 27. This is a fascinating chapter. It is told almost entirely through dialogue. Out of 46 verses, only 6 do not­ contain direct speech or quotation marks. The narrator begins by informing us that Isaac is now old, and has become blind. He apparently believes himself to be about to die. So he summons his son Esau, his oldest son, his favorite son. He informs him of what he believes to be his impending death and his desire to bless him before he dies. So he asks his son to go hunting, bring back wild meat, cook it and bring it to him to eat, after which he will pronounce this formal blessing upon his son.

There are several issues in the story that are puzzling to me, and they remain puzzling even after considerable study. First of all is the exact relationship between the blessing mentioned here and the birthright spoken of in chapter 25. Are they two different things, or are they one and the same? Without fully being able to answer, I do believe that these two were necessarily intended to go together. The birthright included all the inheritance rights that usually went to the firstborn. The blessing seems to have been the formal bestowal of those rights, with the added impact that with the patriarchs at least, the father’s blessing was more in the nature of a prophecy from God about the future of the one blessed as well as a passing on of God’s sacred promises to Abraham. The act of blessing was, so to speak, the passing of the baton.

That being the case, my second puzzle here is the motivation and thinking of Isaac in seeking to give this blessing to Esau. Two things have already happened in the story to indicate the inappropriateness of his intended action. First, before the twins were ever born, God had specifically spoken to Rebekah to tell her that “the older will serve the younger.” Secondly, Esau has sold his birthright to Jacob. That leaves us with only three alternatives.

First, that Isaac was ignorant of these facts. That Rebekah did not tell him what the Lord had told her, and that he was not aware of the bargain struck between Jacob and Esau. While not impossible, it seems to me that such ignorance is highly unlikely under the circumstances.

The second possibility is that Isaac is having what we sometimes describe as a “senior moment.” He is becoming senile and has forgotten these matters. This also seems unlikely, as he appears quite cogent and with it later in the passage.

The third possibility is that Isaac is acting in direct disobedience to God’s plan and purpose. While this also seems out of character, it seems the most likely explanation.

Whatever his motivation and thinking, he sends Esau away to hunt for the wild game meat he loved. But Rebekah has been listening to the exchange. Remember now, Jacob is her favorite son. She is determined that the blessing should go to Jacob. She is not wrong in this, because it was to her that God had spoken the words of prophecy about the older serving the younger. So she quickly calls Jacob.

The plan seems to spring fully formed into her mind. She instructs Jacob to bring her two young goats from the herd. “I’ll prepare them just the way your father likes, and season them in a way that he will not be able to tell them from game meat. Then you take it to him, pretending to be Esau, and when he has eaten he will bless you instead of Esau.”

Jacob is initially leery of the plan. “It’ll never work. Esau and I are too different. All he has to do is touch me, and he’ll know I’m not Esau. I have smooth skin, Esau is hairy. So instead of a blessing I’ll be cursed for trying to trick him.”

It’s interesting that Jacob’s objection to the plan is not that it is wrong or unethical, but only that it is impractical and that he will get caught.

Rebekah is insistent. “If we get caught, I’ll take the curse and the blame. Just do what I say.”

So the plan is carried out and in addition to preparing the food, Rebekah also dresses Jacob in Esau’s clothes, and covers his hands and neck with the goatskins.

The tension is almost tangible. We can almost feel Jacob’s heart pounding and the tightness in his throat as he enters his father’s presence. The writer does such a great job of relating it, that I’m just going to read it.

(Read Genesis 27:18-29)

The text continues to read almost like the screenplay for a theater production. With almost a palpable sigh of relief, Jacob exits stage left, and as the door closes, in comes Esau with the game from his successful hunt. He prepares the meal, and he too enters his father’s presence.

“My father, sit up and eat the meat I have brought so that you may give me your blessing.”

“Who are you?” asks Isaac.

“I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

At this point, Isaac almost collapses. The NIV says he trembled violently. Literally the Hebrew says he “trembled a trembling, an exceedingly great one.”

“Then who was it that just brought me a delicious meal of game? I just finished eating it, and I blessed him, and truly he will be blessed.”

I think at this point Isaac recognizes that he has been tampering with things he should not have been tampering with. This is the cause of his trembling. He recognizes that God has in fact over-ruled him. The blessing he intended for Esau has been given to Jacob by God’s authority, and he cannot call it back.

Esau breaks out with a loud and bitter cry. He rages at Jacob. “He is rightly named Jacob (heel grasper) for he has tricked me now two times.” He then pleads with Isaac for a blessing. Isaac, now aware of his patriarchal role as a prophet, and the necessity of speaking only the words that God puts in his mouth, refuses to rescind the blessings given to Jacob. He finally speaks words of prophecy over Esau, but they are not comforting words:

(Read Genesis 27:39-40)

The chapter ends with Esau plotting revenge against his brother. “When my father dies, I will kill my brother.” This reaches the ears of Rebekah, and she makes plans to send Jacob away to her relatives in Haran where he will be safe.

Well, it is a dramatic story, but it is also a sad story, isn’t it? No one comes out of the story looking good. There are no heroes in these chapters. So what do we gain from studying it? What do we learn? What can we take away from these verses?

We have said that we are studying these chapters in an effort to discover the ancient paths, the eternal paths that lead to rest for our souls. Well, one way of discerning the ancient path is by discerning where some of the other paths, the wrong paths, ultimately lead.

What can we learn from Esau? I would suggest a simple, but deeply profound lesson: BEWARE OF CHOOSING THE TEMPORAL OVER THE ETERNAL.

This is the crucial error made by Esau, as identified in the Biblical text. We are told that Esau “despised his birthright.” He treated it contemptuously, as something of no value. The writer of Hebrews says it this way in 12:16-17: See that no one is sexually immoral or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.

For Esau, what mattered was now. A full stomach now was more valuable than, what he might have called “pie in the sky by and by.” The birthright, which in this case included all the promises of God to Abraham, was off in the future somewhere. But this bowl of lentil stew was right here, right now.

It’s a sobering reminder, is it not? How often do we trade our spiritual birthrights for a bowl of lentil stew? And the regrets are long-lasting.

 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

Just a quick clarification. The KJV reads here: “he found no place of repentance.” Which makes it sound like he wanted to repent and could not. The Greek word for repentance means literally a “change of mind.” In this case, the change of mind that he could not bring about was a change of mind on the part of God. He sought the blessing with tears, but in the story, there is no indication of a true repentance toward God. He was simply grieving the privileges he had given up so callously.

What do we learn from Jacob? I will only touch on this today, because we shall see this theme repeated in the story of Jacob. The lesson I see is this: WHEN NOBLE GOALS ARE PURSUED BY IGNOBLE MEANS, THERE ARE ALWAYS NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS.

Let’s make a few things clear. God had declared his intention to give the rights of the eldest son to Jacob. What’s more, what was at stake was huge. Nothing less than being the forebear, the ancestor of the Messiah. The sacred promises of God. To be the baton-bearer of the plan and program of God for the salvation of the world. Jacob desired a noble thing.

The problem was, he (and Rebekah with him) failed to trust God’s ability to fulfill his promises without help. So they resorted to ignoble, dishonorable means to achieve the goal. They resorted to cheating, lying, deceiving, manipulating. In their minds, the end justified the means.

We might read and conclude that they were right, that their plan was successful. Jacob did receive the blessing. But there were some painful side-effects. Loss of respect and relationship with his father. Enmity with his brother. A life of living in fear of his brother’s revenge. And Rebekah and Jacob, the two conspirators, the loving mother and the favorite son, never saw each other again.

When noble goals are pursued by ignoble means, there is always a high price to pay.

Finally, (and I believe this to be the chief lesson of the story) what do we learn about God?

GOD IS SOVEREIGN IN THE AFFAIRS OF MEN, EVEN WHEN THEY OPPOSE HIS PURPOSES AND IGNORE HIS PRINCIPLES.

Remember, I have said that the book of Genesis is ultimately a book about God and his working and his plan for the world and for the redemption of mankind. He is ultimately the keeper of the baton, even as it bobs uncertainly in the hands of very frail and fallible human beings. For some reason, God made the choice that Jacob should be the one to carry the baton. And what’s more, he made that choice before Jacob and Esau were even born.

Here’s something to ponder: Turn to Romans 9:10-12: Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad – in order that God’s purpose in election might stand; not by works but by him who calls – she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”

Why did God choose Jacob? I don’t know. He doesn’t tell us. We just know that he did. He is sovereign. And having made his choice and determined his plan, he is well able to fulfill that plan with or without Jacob’s help.

This is the way the writer of Proverbs expresses it in Proverbs 19:21: Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

And again in Proverbs 21:30: There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.

Chapter 25 and 27 of Genesis are chapters of human chaos and disfunctionality. And yet, in spite of it, God’s purpose is being fulfilled and his plan is being carried out.

That is where I want to leave you at the conclusion of this sermon. We live in a world that often makes no sense. Where the forces of wrong and of chaos seem so prevalent. And this often seems the case in our lives as well.

I want to say it as simply and clearly as I can: God is in control. He’s in control of the flow of history and he is in control of the details of your life and mine. He wants and desires our obedience and our trust but ultimately, he does not need our help. He will fulfill his plan. And it is a good plan for those who walk by faith.